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A ruined fortress first mentioned in 1116, Narberth owes much of its continued popularity by its inclusion in the Mabinogion Welsh folk tales. It is the original motte and bailey castle which would have been known to the Marshal family which was thought to have been built by Sir Andrew Perrot (b1130) although this theory has been ‘debunked’ by historian Roger Turvey. The castle passed into the control of the Marshals from 1199 although there is no record of any improvements during this time. In 1220, Henry III exhorted knights and free men throughout the lordship to give every assistance to William the Younger to repair both Narberth and Wiston. However, it wasn’t until 1246, at which time the castle had passed to William’s eldest daughter Eva as the male line had died out the previous year, when building work began in earnest. Eva had married William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny, and their daughter Maud, in turn, married into the Mortimer family, bringing Narberth to the marriage as part of her dowry. The keep is said to have been started in 1246 with the remaining towers being added toward the latter half of the 1200s.
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